Benefits of optical fiber include extremely wide bandwidth and low noise operation. Because of these benefits, optical fiber is increasingly being used for a variety of applications, including but not limited to broadband voice, video, and data transmission. Fiber-optic networks employing optical fiber are being developed and used to deliver voice, video, and data transmissions to subscribers over both private and public networks. These fiber-optic networks often include connection points linking optical fibers to provide “live fiber” from one connection point to another connection point. In this regard, fiber-optic equipment is located in data distribution centers or central offices to support interconnections. To support these interconnections, fiber-optic equipment is located in data distribution centers or central offices.
The fiber-optic equipment is customized based on the needs of the application. The fiber-optic equipment is typically included in housings that are mounted in equipment racks to optimize use of space. One example of such fiber-optic equipment is a fiber-optic module. A fiber-optic module is designed to provide cable-to-cable fiber-optic connections and to manage the polarity of fiber-optic cable connections.
A fiber-optic module is typically mounted in a tray that fits within a chassis or housing (called an interconnect unit or ICU). The tray is used to form a drawer within the housing, which in turn is mounted in an equipment rack or cabinet. Examples of such a tray, drawer and equipment rack are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0296790. A technician establishes fiber-optic connections to fiber-optic equipment mounted in the equipment rack by pulling out the drawer and pushing it back into the housing when the connections are completed.
Present-day trays and drawers are made of a fairly large number of parts, which makes them relatively complex and expensive. Further, the trays and drawers would benefit from configurations that better facilitate the insertion and alignment of the fiber-optic modules, as well as technician access to the modules so that the fiber-optic connections (e.g., jumper connections and trunk connections) can be more quickly made.